While I was eating dinner yesterday, I flipped through the television channels and stopped at a show on Nickelodeon. Although I grew up watching the Nickelodeon network, and think I realized, to some extent, the messages and advertising on some of these shows (for example, after Keenan & Kel, I loved orange soda partially because it was highly advertised on the show), I was surprised to see some of the more blatant advertising that many of the shows are currently exploiting. For example, one television show that is primarily based on a web show displays a mock Apple computer icon (in the shape of a pear) numerous times on every episode I've seen in the series. The symbol is on all of the computers and phones shown during the show, and are obviously directly marketing the Apple brand without making the support too blatant. Many of the shows also have drinks and food that could be directly associated with drinks and food that are found in everyday life. Another show uses a similar tactic of changing the name of the show props to make them seem more accessible to audiences that have some economic power (in this case, children have some power over their parents).
All of these examples made me think about the product the shows were promoting, and therefore, in essence, did their job. However, I feel that it's somewhat underhanded to feed kids these messages without being entirely explicit. As teenagers, most people have the knowledge to separate what one needs from what one is being told they need; however, I feel that children are more gullible to the messages that the media is sending. The "explicit" advertising is influencing their behavior.
All of these examples made me think about the product the shows were promoting, and therefore, in essence, did their job. However, I feel that it's somewhat underhanded to feed kids these messages without being entirely explicit. As teenagers, most people have the knowledge to separate what one needs from what one is being told they need; however, I feel that children are more gullible to the messages that the media is sending. The "explicit" advertising is influencing their behavior.
